John R. Williams
John is a choral conductor, composer, pianist, adjudicator and recording artist. A multi-style musician who loves many genres of music, John has a Master of Music Degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Washington, where he was a scholarship student with Dr. Geoffrey Boers. Prior to this, he pursued jazz studies in Montreal at Concordia University, and choral conducting at UBC. His early music training was at the Vancouver Academy of Music.
John recently released a choral album of his own choral compositions entitled Miracle, featuring top musicians and singers in the Lower Mainland. The recording engineers for Miracle are Don Harder and Brian Chan, known as forefront sound engineers in Vancouver and with the CBC, and the mastering is by the longtime esteemed engineer with the CBC, Grant Rowledge. It has already been featured several times on CBC Radio’s Choral Concert. His first album, Shades of Green, consisting of chamber music and various quartets, trios, duos, and piano solos, has also been played on CBC Radio and on additional radio networks internationally.
Since 2023, John is the music director of Jubilate Vocal Ensemble in Vancouver. He is also the artistic director of Delta Choral Society. He has conducted many kinds of choirs and ensembles over the years. Formerly, he directed choirs at Douglas College in New Westminster, directed the music program at Tenth Church in Vancouver, including annual Christmas concerts with annual attendance of several thousand people, and spent four years as Head of Music at Brentwood College on Vancouver Island. He also directed mass choirs in Montreal with choirs from 21 churches in the Montreal area. Over the past few years, John has been an adjudicator for provincial high school choral festivals for several years. He also plays and sings in the band The Coveralls.
John lives in Vancouver with his wife Dorothy. They have three grown-up children.